'Morning Joe' panel rips Trump's effort to downplay Russian hacks: 'People should be outraged'

As news keeps pouring in about Russia's involvement in trying to sway the 2016 presidential election, the crew at Morning Joe isn't mincing any words: This is an outrage.

Panelist Mark Halperin, who is normally restrained and measured during discussions, said there's no denying that Russia's involvement in our election is a very big deal that can't just be swept under the rug.

"It obviously was a Kremlin-directed thing," Halperin said of the hacks of the DNC and John Podesta's private email. "And people should be outraged about it, outraged by the fact that Russia tried to have an influence on the election."

New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters chimed in and said that he hasn't detected significant reluctance on the part of Republicans when it comes to investigating Russian hacking, as "this is an instance where your country takes precedent over your party."

He also predicted that this issue would be a "major distraction" for Trump over the first two years of his term, although he predicted McConnell would do his best to shield Trump from major political damage.

Panelist Steve Rattner, meanwhile, said that Trump was doing himself a "disservice" by attacking any attempt to investigate Russia's role because "he's making it look like maybe it did have something to do with the election."

Check out the whole clip below.